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Emergency personnel in three counties reported sightings of funnel clouds Wednesday evening, with at least three tornado touchdowns leaving behind damage as storms moved through the area.
The storm hit the area at the Kosciusko, Whitley and Wabash county lines. Two people were reported injured in Wabash County.
In Kosciusko County, authorities received several 911 calls of a possible funnel cloud sighting in the area of CRs 1300S and 400E about 5:05 p.m. Three barns and a detached two-car garage were found leveled at the Dan and Michelle Blocker residence on East CR 1300S, North Manchester, in Kosciusko County. The home also sustained substantial damage.
Michelle Blocker, who was in the residence during the storm, told police that she looked out a west window and could see leaves and tree branches blowing in a circular motion. Although she could not describe the sound of the storm, police said, Blocker associated it with a freight train. She said she then went into the basement of the home for shelter. Damage to the Blocker property is estimated to be in the six-figure range.
Damage to a barn roof was reported at the Richard Macdonald residence on South Ulrey Road, North Manchester, also in Kosciusko County.
In Whitley County, a volunteer firefighter reported a tornado aloft at 4:54 p.m. just west of North Manchester. The funnel cloud was first spotted on CR 100E, north of town. North Manchester Police Department Sgt. Scott Fairchild and director of public safety Jack Fetrow followed the cloud and saw it touch down on CR 100E, between CRs 1300N and 1400N in Whitley County. A barn was destroyed there before the tornado moved into Kosciusko County and caused the damage at the Blocker residence. The tornado then reportedly lifted and dissipated.
In Wabash County, Sheriff Tim Roberts reports that several homes and barns were damaged by a series of small tornadoes, beginning about 4:51 p.m., when it was reported that a tornado was sighted eight miles west of North Manchester.
One minute later, the Wabash County Sheriff's Department received a 911 call that there was a funnel cloud near North Wabash CR 200W. A WCSD deputy saw a funnel cloud forming in that same area at 4:54 p.m. and, at 4:55 p.m., it was reported that a tornado was on the ground in the Long Lake/Laketon area in northern Wabash County.
The same sheriff's deputy reported seeing three separate tornadoes spawned by the same thunderstorm, according to a press release from the WCSD. The first tornado touched down one-half mile north of Ind. 114, east of Meridian Road, then dissipated. About five minutes later, a second tornado hit a house and barn near the intersection of Wabash CRs 100E and 1400N. That tornado then traveled through a small woods and dissipated. A few minutes later, a third tornado was reported at Wabash CRs 1500N and 200E, where a house was damaged and a barn destroyed. Two occupants of the home were uninjured. That tornado continued on the ground for about three miles and dissipated in southern Kosciusko County.
According to the WCSD press release, two injuries were reported as a result of these storms: an adult male suffered a broken leg caused by flying debris at 13678 N. Wabash CR 100W and was taken to Lutheran Hospital, Fort Wayne, for treatment. No information as to his name, age or condition was available. A second person, whose name also was not available, suffered minor injuries when tree limbs were blown onto a vehicle he was in. Police said it is believed this injury was caused by straight-line winds and not a tornado.
Many trees and power lines were reported down in all three counties.
Assisting in assessing storm damage in the various areas were personnel from Indiana State Police; Warsaw, Silver Lake, Claypool and Pierceton police departments; Multi-Township and South Central emergency medical services; Silver Lake Fire Department; Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department reserves; all volunteer fire departments in Wabash County; and Wabash County Emergency Management.
Prior to the storms hitting the area, the town of North Webster lost power due to a squirrel shorting out two fuses in a transformer of the NIPSCO substation south of the township building in town.
Power was restored after about an hour. The outage affected everyone in town from Crystal Flash Road south to at least the Armstrong Road area.
Outages caused by the storm were concentrated in the southwestern part of the county, but most of the power lost from downed lines was restored by about 8 p.m., with a few scattered outages existing for a short time thereafter.
